The past decade has been marked by a technological revolution driven by the convergence of the data processing industry with the consumer electronics industry. The effect has, in turn, driven technologies that have been known and available but relatively quiescent over the years. Two of these technologies are the network related distribution of computer related work functions and object oriented programming systems. The computer and communications industries have extensively participated in the development and continual upgrading of object oriented programming systems, such as the C++ and Java systems. For details and background with respect to object oriented programming systems, such as the Java programming system, C++ and others, reference may be made to some typical texts: Just Java, 2nd Edition, Peter van der Linden, Sun Microsystems, 1997; Thinking in Java, Bruce Eckel, Prentice Hall PTR, 1998; and Objects, Components and Frameworks with UML, Desmond F. D'Sousa et al., Addison-Wesley, 1998.
The convergence of the electronic entertainment and consumer industries with data processing has greatly accelerated the demand for wide ranging communications distribution channels through computer communication networks.
With the expanded accessibility of hundreds of thousands of programmers, information distributors and users to each other, not to mention to potential users of such programs via the expanded network client bases, an obvious need became apparent: cooperative program systems in a distributed and shared programming environment. Object oriented programming offered the solution. With its potentially interchangeable objects or units within which both data attributes and functions were stored in a predefined uniform framework, as well as the predefined object interfaces with each other, object oriented programming systems have found acceptance as the programming system for the Internet and networks in general.
As a result of this changed global environment with widespread distribution of functions over hundreds and even thousands of miles, the diagnosis and correction of error conditions at particular terminals, i.e. target client computers, is becoming more complex. On complex and widespread networks, the users at client terminals in error conditions or needing help requiring diagnostics do not often have the convenience of direct hands-on help or service. Consequently, remote diagnostics and correction has become a necessity. One typical remote control diagnostic and correction function for network client terminal problems is available from Tivoli Systems: the Tivoli Remote Control function. Such a function enables “Help Desk” and like support personnel to observe activity on a target user's computer, as well as take control of the target computer directly to correct a problem or perform a task that the requesting user is having difficulty with. These functions allow the support personnel to pinpoint the source of the user's problem so that they may be able to provide proper instructions to the user. By taking control of the computer directly, the support personnel may quickly resolve problems without having to go to the user's facility. The present invention relates to remote control systems, such as the Tivoli system, that establish regions each managed through a plurality of regional hub servers. A regional hub server manages a hierarchy usually of several levels including spokes with sub-hubs or nodes in a tree that eventually ends in up to hundreds of client computers that are the potential target computers for the remote controller computers controlling the diagnostics and error corrections. With the expansion of network function distribution over extensive enterprise order proportions, the existing processes in which the remote controller computer is requested to do the diagnostics must proceed directly through each regional hub in order to reach target problem client computers is becoming less efficient and manageable. In the diagnostics and solution of problem conditions, the remote controller computer may have to take control of, or at least look at, several target client computers. Existing procedures wherein the remote controller in seeking its target computers must proceed through a sequence of regional hub servers is becoming too slow and less efficient.